AP Exam Credit | Student Services

ADVANCED PLACEMENT (AP) EXAM CREDIT

College of Marin grants credit towards an Associate Degree (AA/AS), Associate Degree for Transfer (ADTs), and IGETC or CSU Breadth Certification with a score of 3, 4, or 5 on the AP exam. An acceptable AP score for IGETC or CSU Breadth equates to either 3-semester or 4-quarter units for certification purposes. Each AP exam may be applied to one IGETC or CSU Breadth area as satisfying one-course requirement, except for Language other Than English (LOTE) and laboratory requirements.

Students who have earned credit from an AP exam should not take a comparable college course because transfer credit will not be granted for both.

Please see a counselor about using AP exam scores and credits to meet graduation and/or transfer requirements.

To receive credit, students must:

Have successfully completed 12 units of residency at College of Marin
Submit a Student Petition to Enrollment Service
Have an official copy of their test scores sent to Enrollment Services

Important Notes about External Exams:

VERY IMPORTANT: Course credit and units granted at COM may differ from credit awarded at transfer institutions. Each university determines how exams will apply toward credit will apply in a specific major. Many transfer schools do not accept AP as preparation for the major! Please see a counselor to discuss your specific major and transfer institution.
Duplicate credit limitations: Students who receive AP credit and then take the comparable College of Marin course will NOT receive duplicate credit at COM or their transfer institutions. For example, a student will receive credit for one of the following: AP English Language or ENGL 150 @ COM, not both.
For all Associate Degrees for Transfer (ADTs) a score of 3 or higher is acceptable for credit for a comparable course in the ADT major. Students must be advised, however, that this does NOT mean it will be accepted at all transfer institutions as major preparation (see note above).

The following chart shows how AP Exams can be applied to the three general education patterns at College of Marin:

AP Examination	IGETC AREA	CSU Breadth AREA	COM Local GE AREA
Art History	3A or 3B	C1 or C2	C
Biology	5B and 5C	B2 and B3	A
Calculus AB	2A	B4	E
Calculus BC	2A	B4	E
Calculus BC/AB subscore	2A	B4	E
Chemistry	5A and 5C	B1 and B3	A
Chinese Language and Culture	3B and 6A	C2	C
Comparative Government & Politics	4	D	B
Computer Science A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Computer Science AB	N/A	N/A	N/A
Computer Science Principles	N/A	B4	E
English Language and Composition	1A	A2	D
English Literature and Composition	1A or 3B	A2 and C2	C and D
Environmental Science	5A and 5C	B1 and B3 (B2 and B3 if taken prior to F09)	A
European History	3B or 4	C2 or D	B
French Language and Culture (Previously French Language or French Literature)	3B and 6A	C2	C
German Language and Culture (Previously German Language)	3B and 6A	C2	C
Human Geography	4	D	B
Italian Language and Culture	3B and 6A	C2	C
Japanese Language and Culture	3B and 6A	C2	C
Latin Literature (Previously Latin Literature or Latin: Vergil)	3B and 6A	C2	C
Macroeconomics	4	D	B
Microeconomics	4	D	B
Music Theory (if taken before FA09)	N/A	C1	C
Physics 1, Physics 2, Physics B, or Physics C (electricity/magnetism or mechanics)	5A and 5C	B1 and B3	A
Precalculus (New 2023)		B4	E
Psychology	4	D	B
Seminar	N/A	N/A	N/A
Spanish Literature and Culture (Previously Spanish Language or Spanish Literature)	3B and 6A	C2	C
Statistics	2A	B4	E
Studio Art – 2D Design	N/A	N/A	C
Studio Art – 3D Design	N/A	N/A	C
Studio Art - Drawing	N/A	N/A	C
U.S. Government & Politics	4 and US-2	D and US-2	B or F
U.S. History	(3B or 4) and US-1	(C2 or D) and US-1	(B or C) and F
World History – Modern	3B or 4	C2 or D	B or C

AP Exam Credit Cheat Sheet: IGETC, CSU Breadth & COM GE (PDF)

AP Credit and Comparable Courses at UC Campuses

It can sometimes be tricky to determine how AP credits transfer to 4-year universities because each university has their policy on awarding AP credits. Below are links to some of the UC’s AP charts. If you are using an AP exam to meet major preparation, you will need to check the specific department’s policy on AP credit for major preparation. Also, remember that many of the UC charts award quarter units while College of Marin awards semester units.

Additional Resources:

University of California AP Exam Policy
IGETC Standards 2.4
UC Quick Reference
AP Credit for CSU Breadth
CSU External Exam Policy
College Board AP Website (order AP transcripts at this website)